During the meeting, both parties discussed the progress on implementing previous meeting recommendations and the transportation needs report for the coming school year.

In addition, the annual report on the quality and safety of school transportation services was reviewed. ADEC representatives were updated on the implementation of new initiatives by ET.

“ADEC is keen to provide students with a safe and encouraging learning environment, to include safe travel to and from school. To achieve this goal, collaboration with Emirates Transport is of paramount importance,” Mr. Al Dhaheri said.

To ensure student travel-related safety, he added, it is also important to develop and carry out effective student awareness campaigns and emergency plans in collaboration with relevant stakeholders.

“Accelerated efforts should be made to implement the school transportation regulations recently issued by the Department of Transport-Abu Dhabi to ensure safety requirements are met in school buses,” he pointed out.

ADEC is keen to emiratize all school bus supervisor positions, creating 678 new jobs in coordination with Abu Dhabi Tawteen Council. The number of existing school buses is 1791, while 76 additional buses will be introduced to cover new residential areas such as New Al Falah area.

Posted on 31 July 2013

As part of an ambitious plan to improve the quality of education across private schools in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, the Abu Dhabi Education Council’s (ADEC) Private Schools and Quality Assurance Sector (PSQA) has inspected all private schools across the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in the past two years.

Based on these inspection visits, schools are expected to submit an annual schools development plan so that ADEC can monitor and support the continuous development of each school.

In PSQA’s efforts to drive long-term improvement across the private school and to promote transparency, parents now have access of an evaluation report for the 2011-2013 academic school years in both English and Arabic that will be made available at Abu Dhabi Education Council’s websites.

These reports will contain general information on the school, the band and overall effectiveness of the school, information on what actions the school needs to follow in order to improve further.

The initiative is part of ADEC’s Irtiqa’a programme, where all private schools in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi are required by law to register with the ADEC and are normally inspected once every two years.

In a bid to provide continuous improvement in private schools where the largest groups of students are enrolled, schools have been inspected twice, once in the first cycle of inspections between 2009 and 2011, and once in the second cycle between 2011 and 2013.

“ADEC has decided to publish the status of private schools across the Emirate in its mission to provide transparent and reliable information on their child’s school. This is a highly useful resource for parents, students, schools, investors and ADEC, since it helps provide informative and necessary details about each and every single school in the Emirate, thus allowing room for national and international comparison,” said H.E. Dr. Mugheer Al Khaili, Director General at the ADEC.

Speaking about evaluation reports, Engineer Hamad Al Dhaheri, Executive Director at ADEC’s Private Schools and Quality Assurance Sector (PSQA), said: “ADEC inspectors visited well over 10,000 classes and conducted several hundred interviews with students and staff during the course of inspections in all private schools. Schools are required to submit a school development plan within 30 days from the issuance of the final evaluation report. As part of involving parents in the evaluation process, around 35,000 questionnaires have been filled out by parents, who formed part of the evidence considered in the inspection of every school.”

Speaking about the Irtiqa’a inspection, Dr. Al Khaili explained that the inspection program helps improve the quality and effectiveness of schools in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in accordance with ADEC’s strategic goals. He said: “The aim is to bring schools in line with some of the best international practices, while promoting quality and excellence both regionally and internationally.”

The current inspection results show that 15% of the private schools are in Band A (high performing schools), 19% in Band B (satisfactory schools), and 66% in Band C ( in need of significant improvement), compared with Cycle 1 ( 2009-2011)results, which were 11 per cent of the schools were in Band A, 17% in Band B and 72% in Band C. The results also clearly demonstrate that many schools have improved: 43 schools jumped one degree , 36 schools jumped two degrees and 18 schools jumped three degress on the 8 point scale within the two years cycle.

School inspection, as per ADEC’s strategy, helps identify the quality of education that schools provide; gives schools clear recommendations for improvement; assists policy making at a sector level; encourages the sharing of best practices in education and the exchange of professional expertise.

Inspections are transparent and rigorous, added Engineer Al Dhaheri. “Schools are inspected by teams of inspectors, who typically spend four days in a school. The number of inspectors involved in an inspection and the number of days depends on the size of the school.”

Inspectors assess eight aspects of each school’s performance based on “Performance Standards” namely: a student’s attainment and progress; a student’s personal development; the quality of teaching and learning; meeting of student’s needs through the curriculum; the protection, care, guidance and support of students; the quality of the school’s buildings and premises; the school’s resources to support its aims and the effectiveness of leadership and management.

“Inspectors use grades on an eight point scale when assessing quality against each of the performance standards. 1 is considered outstanding, 2 very good, 3 good, 4 satisfactory and improving, 5 satisfactory, 6 unsatisfactory, 7 very unsatisfactory and 8 is considered to be poor. For reporting the overall effectiveness of each school, the grades are banded together; Band A (Grades 1 to 3) for example is given to high performing schools, Band B (Grades 4 to 5) is given to satisfactory schools while Band C (Grades 6 to is given to schools in need of significant improvement,” concluded Engineer Hamad.

Dr. Najla Alraway Alnaqbi, e-Learning Manager at ADEC’s P-12 Policy Sector, said that the WRO competitions have grown in so many ways. ADEC is doing all it can to ensure accessibility to quality education. We look forward to developing the capacity of UAE students in order for them to participate effectively.”

“Involving students in the WRO with each passing year is part of ADEC’s 10-year strategy plan to provide students with world class technology education through robotics and to encourage 21st century skills as part of Abu Dhabi’s 2030 Economic vision to graduate students with critical, problem solving skills,” said Dr. Alnaqbi.

According to Dr. Alnaqbi, the district competition helps select top performing teams for this year’s WRO international, which will be held in Indonesia on 15- 17 November 2013 under the theme “World Heritage.”

The national competition attracted nearly 1650 students from all over UAE. They constituted 470 teams, exceeding last year’s participation by 150 teams. The teams that made it to the national finals include 30 teams in the Open Category, and 24 teams in Football Category, in addition to 54 teams in the Regular Category, i.e. 18 teams from each of the three cycles.

Posted on 14 May 2013

The Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) launched its new website in efforts to provide ongoing improvement in technology and a more effective communication channel among ADEC’s internal and external customers and strategic partners.

ADEC’s website is the main gate for all users and those willing to be informed about the education sector and transformation in education across the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

Speaking at the launching ceremony held in the Abu Dhabi Fairmont Hotel, H.E. Dr. Mugheer Khamis Al Khaili, Director General of ADEC, said, “ADEC is keen to use and apply latest technology in different operations and programmes to provide better services for its stakeholders. In today’s world, the wide variety of technological and social networking tools inform decision making. Thus, we are looking forward to serving all strategic partners, students, parents and other local and international stakeholders through our new website.”

H.E. added, “The standards applied in the new website come in line with Abu Dhabi’s ambitious vision as well as ADEC’s branding strategy. Providing customers with various state-of-the-art services, the new website is linked to all school websites.”

As part of the first phase of the School Website Project, the websites of 7 schools were developed. This year, two more phases will be implemented to create websites for the remaining public schools across the Emirate. The new website has more than 400 links in Arabic and in English, a number that is 62% more than the old one.

The pilot launching phase lasted a month and aimed to identify weaknesses and technical issues, if any. During that phase, and according to international ranking websites, ADEC was one of the top 200 websites in UAE, with more than two million visits/users, with 85% of them from UAE.

Visiting nearly nine links, a user’s average visiting time is approximately nine minutes. Chief among the visited links are the assessment results, careers, surveys, school calendar, services, and parent sections.

Mr. Salem Al Sayari, ADEC’s Executive Director of Support Services, said, “The website was designed using the latest technology that enables all visitors to easily access and navigate its various sections and allows for future expansion and development necessary to meet increasing work needs and to best serve customers.”

“The new website was developed by top IT expertise under the supervision of ADEC’s ICT and Strategic Communication and Media Division. In addition, the highest quality and security standards were applied,” Mr. Al Sayari indicated.

“The upgrading of ICT infrastructure in schools helped facilitate the creation of ADEC’s comprehensive website linked to school websites,” said Mr. Al Sayari.

Accurate and transparent information on ADEC divisions, services, programmes and projects can be easily accessed through the website. During the ceremony, Dr. Al Khaili and Mr. Al Sayari honored employees from the website development team.

Parents of a student in Al Ameen School lauded the website and described it as an amazing initiative, since it allows parents to be in touch with the different activities in the school. “I was especially impressed with the easy access to the schools schedule, since this is one way of understanding what my son is studying day by day.”

Ms. Mariam Mohamed, parent of a school student called Mansour Al Ottaiba in Al Ameen School, said, “The website is highly interactive for parents, since it encourages more interface between the school and families. This website is particularly suitable for working parents, who have no time to visit the school during their working hours. Information is available with a touch of button.”

Posted on 18 April 2013

Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC), in collaboration with Abu Dhabi Municipality (ADM), Emirates College for Advanced Education (ECAE) and Community Police, organized ‘Story in the Park’ events in Abu Dhabi.

This comes in line with Abu Dhabi Reads Campaign launched earlier in order to promote reading among students and community members in general.

During the Story in the Park events, reading sessions and workshops were organized in certain public parks in Abu Dhabi, namely Khalifa Park, Al Bahia Park and Dome@Rawdhat during the period April 15-23. Organized by community police, the activities are carried out with the participation of school learning resource specialists, ECAE students in order to develop a well-educated generation capable of using state-of-the-art educational technology.

Mr. Ahmed Al Suwaidi, ADEC’s Strategic Communication Section Manager, said that these activities help encourage children to read in an atmosphere different from home and school.

“Students are invited to visit the participating parks and take part in the morning reading events. One or two stories are selected and read in each session and gifts and stories are distributed to children at the end of session,” he added.

“By organizing these events, ADEC aims to enhance student skills and train them on using books and references to obtain and analyze information. Children also learn how to effectively manage their time and to adopt good habits. The reading activities are designed to develop a generation equipped with knowledge and skills necessary for change and competition in a fast-paced world.,” he said.

Mr. Abdullah Nasser Al Junaibi, ADM’s Director of Community Service Department, said that ADM is keen to actively participate in Abu Dhabi Reads campaign. This comes in line with its continuous support of various social development initiatives.

“With goals consistent with those of the campaign, ADM is encouraging three to ten year old children to read in public spaces, particularly parks, since 2009,” he said.

“Read a Story activities are organized by ADM for the fourth year in a row. These aim to foster community involvement, while teaching children lessons about preserving environment and adopting favorable habits,” he added.

Civil society organizations should join forces to promote reading habits among younger generations in order to enable them to gain knowledge and contribute to the socio-economic development in the future, Al Junaibi added.

Some ECAE students participate in the events by organizing free reading and art sessions and various entertaining activities. “ECAE supports ADEC initiatives designed to improve the skills of young learners. Thus, our students, who will be the future teachers, are keen to contribute to these efforts by applying the teaching methods and creative thinking skills they have learned at ECAE,” said Mrs. Samira Al Nuaimi, Head of Student Affairs and Development at ECAE.

Community police plays a key role in raising the awareness of community members in general and in relation to the organization of Story in the park Events in particular.

“Reading is one of the priorities of the community police department through the different campaigns it has with ADEC and the different educational establishments. Our participation in “Abu Dhabi Reads” campaign consists of awareness sessions for school children to encourage them to read more and through the distribution of booklets and leaflets designed in an attractive manner to attract the children and seize their attention and imagination,” said Captain Mubarak Awad Bin Mhiroum, head of Community Police, Abu Dhabi.

Ms. Mona Mohammed, LRC specialist at Al Jeel Al Jadeed KG in Abu Dhabi, lauded the wide variety of activities carried out within the Story in the Park event. Reading in the greenery is a unique interactive activity that allows children to acquire knowledge in an attractive environment. Stories focus on national culture and heritage in addition to Arabic and English literacy.

Posted on 26 March 2013

The Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) organized orientation sessions in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and the Western region on scholarship programs that target distinguished Emirati Grade 12 students, who are allowed to continue their education in top universities in the UAE and abroad.

The orientation sessions aim to inform students about the available opportunities in specializations most required to meet labor market needs in the Emirate and incentives offered by ADEC to high performing scholars.

Dr. Eisa Al Matroushi, ADEC’s Guidance and Scholarship Division Manager said that “ADEC is keen to organize such orientation sessions for Grade 12 students across the Emirate of Abu Dhabi every year. Students received academic and career guidance on disciplines and future careers required in line with Abu Dhabi’s Economic Vision 2030.”

During orientation activities, presentations were delivered and students had the chance to discuss eligibility criteria and incentives with ADEC officials. Many students were thankful for the valuable information given by guidance and scholarship teams that has helped make crucial decisions regarding their academic and future career paths.

“The Scholarship Program is designed to provide human capital necessary for contributing to the socio-economic development. Unique opportunities are offered by ADEC in collaboration with partner government institutions,” said Dr. Al Matroushi.

To be eligible, students must be Emirati nationals with a minimum score of 85% in Grade 12 or equivalent. Students must also pass an interview to receive one of the scholarships offered by ADEC in certain priority areas. Scholars must maintain a minimum score of 3.0.

Monthly stipends are paid to scholars while ADEC will help secure job opportunities upon successful graduation from the scholarship program which is highly supported by the Abu Dhabi government. Last year, the Abu Dhabi Executive Council approved an additional budget of Dhs197m to increase the number of scholars over the next four years.

In addition, all students are allowed to participate in summer training programs provided by ADEC in prominent institutions in UAE and abroad. These programs help trainees acquire hands-on and communication skills necessary for their future careers.

Posted on 07 March 2013

In their aim to provide treatment services to Emirati students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the New England Center for Children (NECC), which operates in collaboration with the Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC), has relocated its services to a larger facility located in Mohammed Bin Zayed City.

This new state of the art building was designed to be a premier facility for children with autism.

ADEC Prior to its transfer to ADEC in January 2010, NECC Abu Dhabi operated in collaboration with the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA) since 2007.

There are currently in Abu Dhabi an estimated 1,466 Emirati children from birth to 14 years of age who can benefit from a specialized ASD programme. By the year 2020 this number will increase to approximately 1,655.

“As part of ADEC’s 10 Year Strategic Plan to offer all students quality education regardless of their background, ethnicity or condition, ADEC has partnered with NECC to help offer transitional students some of the world’s best educational systems, with assisted equipment and facilities that can help ease the process for both therapists and the children themselves,” said H.E. Dr. Mugheer Khamis Al Khaili, ADEC’s Director General.

Autism is a disorder of brain development and a developmental disorder with onset in infancy. Young children with autism do not learn from their environment like typical children do, thus development does not proceed normally.

Most children with autism have language deficits, lack social behaviors such as eye contact, and may engage in repetitive or unusual behaviors. Many children with autism will learn when given highly structured and consistent teaching that requires them to participate actively in their education.

The condition appears to be genetically determined, and is the fastest growing developmental disability occurring in all racial, ethnic and social groups. It is approximately four times more likely to affect boys than girls. When fully operational the facility will have the capacity to provide services for 108 students including a short term residential programme for 24 children.

H.E Saif Bader Al Qubaisi, Chairman and Managing Director of the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA) praised the educational and specialized care for autistic children in the U.A.E. and showed his deep gratitude for the collaborative efforts of the NECC, ADEC, SEHA and the private project team who have studied the design and implementation of the project.

He added, “Our vision is to establish an integrated chain of care for differently abled learners who have autism. The center aims to provide a specialized educational curriculum for autistic children, integrate them into society, and create the social awareness required to accept cases of autism.”

SEHA had built the center and, upon completion, handed it over to ADEC. The Center was created on an area of 13 thousand square meters and consists of two buildings: one for residential children and another for autistic educational purposes. The education building accommodates 100 students consisting of 4 floors and includes administration offices, classrooms, restaurants, a gymnasium, and clinic, library to support teachers, basement for parking, and an indoor swimming pool located on the top floor.

The apartment building housing children is comprised of four suites, with each suite consisting of six rooms. In addition, there are two floors of rooms designed for in-house supervisors and includes places to familiarize students with ways to behave while at home, thereby easing the pressure on their families. The children’s building also includes a sports stadium, gardens, games and a library.

This center is designed in a contemporary manner and according to the highest international engineering standards in building and planning. The interior space, from the choice of colors to proximity awareness for anticipated movements of children, are all in line with the guidelines of specialized global consulting firms acting in full coordination with autistic health experts as well as the collaborative input of the NECC.

The structure and design of the building derives from its function of creating an optimum environment for children with ASD, with every design nuance in the learning and living facilities being carefully considered.

Mr. Vincent Strully, CEO and Founder of NECC, said, “NECC, in collaboration with the ADEC, is charged with providing world-class care and treatment for children with autism in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, with the aim of offering direct service to children and their families, education and professional development for service providers and research in best treatment practices for autism and related disabilities. The opening of this new facility establishes Abu Dhabi as a world leader in the treatment of autism.”

The NECC has more than 37 years of experience treating children with autism in the United States. During this time, NECC has developed the Autism Curriculum Encyclopedia (ACE), an effective curriculum based on the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis and empirically-based treatment.

ACE teaches the fundamental skills and concepts that are often lacking in children with autism, for example, communication, socialization, play skills, and academics.

“We are certain that our children in NECC will receive some of the world’s highest assistance and care. When the centre first started it consisted of therapists from the US. Now, more than half the staff members working in the centre consist of Arabic speakers, mostly Emirati and from the Gulf region. This is a positive sign since it shows that awareness regarding transitional children is increasing in the Gulf Region, which helps ease our journey towards integration and inclusion for special needs students,” said Dr. Al Khaili.

Mr. Adam Hughes, Education Special Programmes Section Manager at ADEC praised the ADEC NECC partnership which continues to educate children with autism and raise awareness amongst parents who are unfamiliar with the condition. “The NECC provides a highly structured, intensive learning environment that engages students through a consistent individualized academic, behavioral and social programme.

NECC Abu Dhabi also provides free monthly training seminars to the general public. These are open to parents, teachers, and anyone who has an interest in learning more about effective autism treatment.

Dr. Daniel Gould, Chief Clinical Officer for the NECC Abu Dhabi, advises parents who are suspicious about their young children to seek immediate screening for autism, “There are early autism signs among young babies. For example if your baby does not smile often or show joyful expressions by six months; doesn’t share sounds or facial expressions by 9 months; no babbling by 12 months; no back and forth gestures such as pointing, reaching or waving by 12 months; no two-word meaningful phrases by 24 months; no response when child’s name is called by 10 months and finally any loss of speech or social skills at any age.”

Parents who are suspicious about their young children should contact the local health authority to arrange for a screening for autism. Approximately 67 million people worldwide are affected by autism. “Autism is the fastest growing serious developmental disability in the world. More children will be diagnosed with autism this year than with diabetes, cancer, and AIDS combined,” concluded Dr. Gould.

Posted on 13 February 2013

The Abu Dhabi Education Council’s (ADEC’s) Licensing and Accreditation Division in cooperation with Seha Management met with 128 private school nurses from Abu Dhabi and the Western regions to discuss the vaccination process and its requirements.

The meeting was held to highlight the important role played by school nurses in terms of vaccinations, and how to help encourage more students to take necessary vaccines on time.

Despite a team of Seha nurses taking care of private school vaccinations, a private school student’s vaccination is a shared responsibility between the school health’s vaccination team from Seha and the private school nurse.

Kindergarten to Grade 12 Private school students across the Emirate of Abu Dhabi are meant to receive various types of vaccinations to help prevent the spread of contagious diseases. Grades 1, 5 and 9 are required to go through preventive comprehensive medical screening.

Abu Dhabi Emirate Federal Law #27 of 1981 chapter 3, article 21 requires that all students should be immunized against communicable diseases. These requirements are determined by Health Authority Abu Dhabi (HAAD) and the higher national committee for immunization program.

“Many parents chose not to vaccinate their children out of fear, but this results in students falling sick. That is why we held this meeting, to ask private school nurses to align with ADEC and Seha’s team of nurses and help educate parents and the students with the crucial benefits of vaccinations. Vaccines help protect school children from receiving a virus or a bacteria, especially those whose immunity system is compromised or weak,” said Engineer Hamad Al Dhaheri, ADEC’s Executive Director of PSQA Sector.

During the meeting, school nurses were reminded of their exact responsibility to help prepare students for a vaccination. Some of which included assessing students vaccination status through the student’s health record, pre-school vaccination record and school health pre-vaccination checklist; nurses are also required to list the students eligible for vaccination as per their grades, distribute and collect the signed vaccination consent from parents, the filled pre-vaccination checklist, and a copy of a valid health insurance card.

Dr. Najah Mustapha, School Health Services Director, said, “The health of children is a major concern to all stakeholders in the emirate of Abu-Dhabi as they are the future leaders of tomorrow. Their well-being affects their academic performance and achievements in life. One of the crucial elements of disease prevention and health promotion is immunization. Parents as well as school nurses play vital roles in ensuring effective immunization especially against communicable diseases. Towards this direction, AHS and Abu Dhabi Education Council will collaborate with nurses working in Abu Dhabi-based private schools with the aim of tackling strategies that enhance immunization coverage among students.”

School nurses are also responsible of identifying student counts eligible for a school age vaccination program, communicate the targeted students count with the school health vaccination team, send notification letters to student’s parents about the vaccination appointment as well as educate students about the vaccine.

However when speaking to school nurses, they all felt that their role regarding vaccines poses a huge challenge for them.

According to Wageda Ghazi, a school nurses in Elite School (KG-12), many parents refuse to sign the vaccination consent letter. “No matter what we do, it’s always a parent’s choice to accept a vaccine for their child, and many reject, so our hands are tied.”

Amal Neimatallah, school nurse in the Manhal Private School (KG-12) explained that many parents refuse to sign on the vaccination paperwork, and in a lot of cases students fail to deliver the paperwork to their parents, especially amongst the younger students. “Grade 1 is a huge challenge in our school, since students are very young, and either forget to give the paperwork to their parents or refuse to, since their scared of the vaccine.”

Dowell Barreto, School Nurse at the Emirates Private School (KG-Grade 12) feels that there are major communication problems amongst schools and parents and he feels this can be solved through three methods: holding out regular meetings with parents about the importance of vaccination, using social media and distributing educational material (pamphlets, leaflets, brochures) to help educate parents and keep them alert on the different vaccinations required.

In order to prevent an outbreak of a serious disease and to keep the health and welfare of students under control, ADEC and Seha are planning to launch an awareness campaign regarding the importance of vaccination for parents.

“Parents are our main stakeholders and we will do all we can to reach out to them for the sake of our youth. Seha and school nurses are doing a great job, however there’s very little they can do if parents don’t cooperate. That is why we request them to work with us and help promote the health of our children,” concluded Engineer Al Dhaheri.

Posted on 22 January 2013

The Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) held the Irtiqa’a /Self Evaluation Training over the course of two days for 1,194 principals, vice principals and heads of faculty to help familiarize them on the process of inspection.

The first batch of 433 principals and middle leaders (vice-principals, heads of faculty) were given a detailed session on what is needed to help maintain the quality of education across their schools, since they are due to be inspected anytime this year.

During the training, school leaders participated in learning activities designed to promote deep professional understanding and engagement with the Irtiqa’a process.

The training focused on the eight Irtiqa’a Performance Standards which define the areas of provision and quality service against which all schools will be evaluated, namely: Student Standards and progress; Student Personal development; the Quality of teaching; Meeting Student Needs Through the Curriculum; Student Protection, care, guidance, and support; Buildings and premises; Resources; Leadership and management.

“Training is an essential part of the Irtiqa’a process. In order to support schools to achieve international benchmarks of best practice, school leaders and teachers must receive high quality training and support. Training can empower school leaders and teachers to achieve outstanding results,” said Ms. Maryam Saqer, Inspection Programme Manager who’s also responsibility for The Irtiqa’a programme.

Principals and middle leaders were also provided with resources and support to assist them in the in-school delivery and development of Irtiqa’a training and development for all staff from January 2012 onwards.

Working in collaboration, the ADEC Inspection and Monitoring Division, the ADEC Professional Development Division, and the Tamkeen provider companies created the training module to support the implementation of the Irtiqa’a inspection and self-evaluation process.

The Tamkeen: Empowering Educators program helps supports the development of qualified and skilled teachers and school leaders who can support the Emirate of Abu Dhabi as it aims to enhance the quality of educational outcomes achieved by students.

The Irtiqa’a program challenges all public and private schools to ‘go higher’ by introducing a world-class programme of school inspection and self-evaluation. By introducing a comprehensive inspection system regulated and defined by the ADEC Inspection Framework, Irtiqa’a aims to evaluate all schools against the highest international standards so that the journey towards excellence required by Abu Dhabi’s 2030 vision may be established.

Running alongside the external inspection of the school system is the Irtiqa’a Self Evaluation Framework which supports schools in evaluating their own provision and taking ownership of their journey towards the establishment of international best practices.

“The programme comes in line with ADEC’s Strategic Plan to provide students with high quality education that helps fit them in a globally competitive environment, one that helps contribute to the UAE’s socio-economic development. That is why we will continue offering the Irtiqa’a training sessions to schools,” concluded Ms. Saqer.

Posted on 17 January 2013

The Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) is keen on providing equal chances to students with special needs that helps exploit their talents, skills and abilities.

This comes in line with Abu Dhabi’s vision to provide quality care and services to special needs individuals in order to ensure equal opportunities and full integration into society.

H.E. Dr. Mugheer Khamis Al-Khaili, Director General of ADEC said: “ADEC’s 10-year strategy plan in developing the educational system across the Emirate of Abu Dhabi adopts many initiatives and programmes that foster the empowerment and rehabilitation of people with special needs in line with international standards.”

Dr. Al Khaili added: “ADEC aims to create an atmosphere of intimacy and strengthen the bond of interdependence among the special needs category, paying full attention to all aspects of care, ranging from the classroom environment, health, and social care to community-based rehabilitation.

He emphasized that this has led to a significant increase in the number of special needs individuals who have joined the labor market across various government entities and private institutions.

H.E. Mr. Mohammad Salem Al-Dhaheri, Executive Director of School Operations lauded ADEC DG’s great role in developing the services offered to students, while forming a technical committee.

“The Technical Committee that comprises specialized teams selected from across the three regional offices (Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and the Western Region) has identified and assessed student needs in order to identify devices that will support student learning, resulting in substantial achievements and leading ADEC to gain tribute and appreciation by many specialized organizations,” said Mr. Al-Dhaheri.

Mr. Al-Dhaheri pointed out that the devices were carefully selected by the technical committee to help enhance student’s school performance.

“These new devices are a part of ADEC’s plan to provide more accessible teaching tools for students with special needs, thus providing equal education opportunities for all students.”

He added: “Working closely with all parties and especially families (the first to identify the disability) will help ADEC develop and best exploit talents, skills and abilities among students.”

The devices include 1125 hearing disability & speech difficulty devices, visual impairment, physical disability and learning disabilities (556 in Abu Dhabi, 408 in Al Ain and 161 in the Western Region). Specialized institutions for the supply of the equipment and training teachers were hired by ADEC.

Ms Hanaa Ali Issa Al-Hamdani, Head of the Technical committee said that the devices contained 34 different categories. “Hearing impaired students were given all types of hearing aid devices to help them enhance their performance.”

Al-Hamdani pointed out that during 2011, 2012 and 2013 the committee has provided special needs students with more than 50 different types of devices to best benefit all categories. Moreover, two speech therapy units, equipped with modern devices for diagnosis and treatment were opened.

One in Baniyas School and the other in Mubarak Bin Mohammad school; both are monitored and supervised by speech & language specialists.
A Visual Challenges Unit, equipped with latest devices which will help change students educational performance to the better also opened up at the Omair Bin Yousef School.

Ms Barea Haj Sulaiman, SNS support specialist said that seven categories benefitted from the devices, namely: the learning difficulties & learning resource center received 578 devices, students with speech and language impairment received 308 devices, those with hearing impairment received 92 devices, the visually impaired received 80 devices, students with autistic spectrum disorder received 58 device and those with Cerebral Palsy received nine devices.

“ADEC is planning to provide physically impaired students with tables designed especially for them to best suit their needs and requirements,” she added.

Mr. Aiman Abdullatif, ADEC Speech and language disorder specialist said that 160 hearing impaired students have received hearing aids and that a number of workshops will be organized to familiarize parents with the devices and teach them how to run them.

Mr. Abdullatif pointed out that 110 special education teachers have already attended hearing disability and speech difficulties workshops and 60 of them were selected to join workshops that helped train them on how to deal with students who received Link devices, by using Bell software.

“The Speech and language disorder teachers will attend intensive workshops to help familiarize them on how to use icons, images communication and photo-album devices to help them deal with autistic and cerebral palsy students,” he concluded.

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